


The Lightning Can't Hurt Us Now

by espadachina



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Oneshot, Zutara, i just want them to be happy tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 18:12:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5794603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/espadachina/pseuds/espadachina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short oneshot where Katara and Zuko wake up to a storm outside their window.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lightning Can't Hurt Us Now

Darkness reigns throughout the house. Soft breathing fills the room, quiet and serene, as salted wind billows the curtains. It’s a velvet, enveloping darkness, comforting and warm. The roar of the surf is subdued, its power subliminal, now soothing as lavender.

A flash lights up the window and edges the curtains in bright steel. Eyes flicker under their covers, and the tangle of limbs on the bed tenses unconsciously, fingers curling and foreheads furrowing. A tiny growl, almost overpowered by the soft waves, trembles at the edges of perception.

The curtains begin to dance as a second streak of light inundates the room. Zuko and Katara both flinch into seated positions, hearts pounding.

For a while all is silence and jet. A rumble rises over the ocean’s sighs briefly, then dissipates.  A wall of rain smatters over the side of the house with what seems like the fury of Nature.

Zuko is holding Katara’s hand. Or is she holding his? Either way, they both withdraw them with shaky, relieved, soundless laughs. Katara rises to shut the window; as much as she enjoys her element, a wet wooden floor is not something to encourage.

Zuko watches her from the bed. She becomes silhouetted in ghostly white; her eyes are briefly visible, a strange gunmetal blue in the light of the storm. She shivers suddenly and returns to him, deciding to sit beside him when he makes no move to return to the safety of blankets.

Another lightning bolt blazes through the window, and when she faces him she can see the edge of his jaw and shoulders lined with ghostly white.

“It’s over,” she hears him say; their legs press together between the pillows. She leans against him as the adrenaline begins to wear off. He presses back. “She’s gone, Katara. She’s gone and can’t hurt you anymore.”

Katara shushes him, draws him into her arms, tries to reassure herself by touching him, proving to herself again that he is real. Thunder rolls through the sky.

“We’re alive,” she murmurs, pressing her chin into the back of his shoulder and threading a hand up into his hair. He shudders against her as lightning banishes the night, if only for a moment. His arms come around her, and they hold each other with the determination of those afraid to let go. “Thanks to you, _I’m alive.”_

“I could say the same.”

They sit together as the storm advances. Their eyes blaze whenever a bolt tears up the darkness, their bodies pressed against each other in mutual relief and reassurance. Booms of thunder reverberate through the air, shattering the soft, placid night into sharp pieces.

“I never wanted to put you in danger,” he mutters against her neck.

“I would have come anyway,” she replies, relaxing slightly against his warm skin. How grateful she is for this. She marvels at how every touch and press of bodies reminds her that he’s alive because of her, that she’s alive because of him, that they’re a team and have beaten the odds. Somehow, in the mess that was their world, they managed to fix something and find each other.

“What have I done to deserve you...?” Zuko muses, pulling back slightly to try and look at her. He runs a hand up to cup her cheek and leans his forehead against hers. “How could I go from... from what I was and come to something like this?”

“I love you, Zuko,” she responds, and it hurts. There is a twinge in his heart, and he almost can’t believe it even though she’s _right there_ , and has been there ever since that day of the Agni Kai. It’s almost painful for him to love her, for him to know she loves him.

“Katara... you know I haven’t always been the best person...”

“Stop.” Her fingers tighten against his shoulders. Her expression is indiscernible. Lightning flashes and thunder growls. “Stop telling yourself you don’t deserve this. Stop telling yourself you don’t deserve love. What you did, Zuko, everything that you did after joining us, all of that is more than worthy. It just took me... a while to realize it.”

Something feels like it’s breaking inside of his chest. He draws in a quick breath.

“It’s very simple. I love you, and you love me.” There is no arrogance in her words, only truth. “We saved each other at that Agni Kai, Zuko. We both saved each other from Azula’s lightning, and... and we’re going to keep doing that now.” She points to the window; useless really, in this blackness. “I will never forget what happened, but at least we can protect each other now.” A spider web of electricity cracks the sky into shards through the window.

“I love you, Katara. I love you so much,” Zuko breathes as the storm’s growls rip at the air. Katara kisses him and pushes him back onto the bed before pulling him as close to herself as possible.

In the morning, the sky is swept clean, and they wake up in each other’s arms.


End file.
